Workman Publishing Company founder, Peter Workman, 74, died of cancer on Sunday, April 7 at his home in New York. As noted in the recent announcement of management change in the running of Workman Publishing, he had suffered from the disease since last fall. In addition to serving as president and ceo of the publishing company, Workman was chairman of the board of governors of Yale University Press and served on the boards of the Goddard-Riverside Community Center and Prep-for-Prep, and he was a member of the Publishing Committee of UJA-Federation of New York. As a company announcement recounts: “He […]
Archives for April 2013
May Indie Next Picks
Also as previously reported by us, Anthony Marra’s debut A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA is the No. 1 pick on the May Indie Next list. You can read a nice sample of Marra’s right now in our packed BUZZ BOOKS 2013: Spring/Summer free ebook, where you can also get started on four other May Indie Next picks (from Helene Wecker; Joe Hill; Therese Anne Fowler; and Benjamin Percy). The full May list: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: A Novel, by Anthony Marra The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel, by Helene Wecker NOS4A2: A Novel, by Joe Hill Jewelweed: A […]
Slim Sales, and Slim Margins, for Kobo Devices and eBooks at ABA Stores
Digital Book World has a long report on Kobo’s sales relationship with ABA stores in the US. Sales are said to be much better than what indies experienced through Google Books–but still, by most accounts are negligible, ranging from low dozens of ebooks sold since the initiative launched last November up to stores reporting sales of a few hundred ebooks. Booksellers says their margin on device sales if 5 percent, and “the margin on ebooks varies between books, depending on Kobo’s pricing and discounts, but it usually falls between 8 percent and 20 percent.” General manager of The Harvard Bookstore […]
Confirmed: EU OKs Penguin Random House
With any suspense taken away by last week’s Reuters leak, the European Commission officially approved the Penguin Random House merger Friday morning “without conditions,” following in line with approvals from the DOJ, Australia, and New Zealand. EU regulators said in an emailed statement obtained by Bloomberg: “The commission’s investigation revealed no evidence that the transaction would lead to risks of coordination among publishers in relation to the acquisition of authors’ rights and the sale of English language books to dealers.” It adds, “the merged entity will furthermore face a concentrated retail base, such as supermarkets for print books and large […]
Harper and Open Road, Cont.
HarperCollins and Open Road have both followed their respective motions from mid-March asking for summary judgment in the lawsuit over ebook rights to the late Jean Craighead George’s Julie of the Wolves with reply filings. “Did, too,” Harper asserts in their latest brief; “Did, not,” Open Road responds with vigor. Each side reasserts its case with even finer detail. Since it rests with the judge–there is a reason older ebook rights are termed by many as simply “in dispute”–we’re not sure it’s worth examining the latest arguments in depth, but both filings are attached for those who wish to read […]
People, Etc.
Christian Trimmer will join Simon & Schuster Children’s as senior editor on April 15. Previously he was senior editor at Disney-Hyperion. Wah-Ming Chang has joined Melville House as managing editor. Previously she was a production manager at FSG. In addition, Alex Shephard has been named director of digital marketing, as well as managing editor of the publisher’s MobyLives blog. Shephard is editor-in-chief of online literary magazine Full Stop. At Random House, Jennifer Javier has been promoted to regional sales manager, International Sales, covering Indonesia and the Philippines. Javier will be based in Manila. At Hachette Book Group, Ali Coughlin has been […]